ARTICLE

Local Sounds: Lilly Hiatt's take on Nashville life is worth listening to

Sep 05 2017

Posted by: Staff

By: Tyler Kes

With all of the local musicians, it is refreshing to see one really take what it means to live in Nashville to heart, and for that to become abundantly evident through their music.

References to real places around town, from the album title itself to places nearby including Franklin, give Trinity Lane, which was released Aug. 25, a sense of realness.

Obviously it takes more than a couple of location name-drops to make a good album, but luckily Lilly Hiatt is a talented songwriter in her own right.

is about the little things that make up life, written during the singer’s time living in Nashville.

Based on the bulk of the material mined for songs, she went through a breakup during the time she worked on the album.

While that might imply it is something like what Taylor Swift used to put out, it's more about the kind of long-term relationship where after it ends, you wonder if you just blew your one shot at happiness.

Nowhere is this more clear than on the track “The Night David Bowie Died,” an ode to that specific failed relationship.

“Cuz I, I realized that I screwed up/I love you baby/what we had, it was good enough,” is how the chorus goes on that one, and it is a sentiment that many will find themselves agreeing with in those dark days at the end.

Relationship drama and a desire for closure isn’t all the album is about, however, as the standout track on the album, the titular “Trinity Lane,” is just about the most true to my Nashville experience song I’ve heard in the almost two years I’ve been reviewing music.

The song is just about getting by when things are tough, and letting people live.

“I get bored, so I want to get drunk/I know how that goes/So I ain’t gonna touch it/I think my neighbors are selling drugs/I know how that goes/I ain’t judging nothing.”

It’s an oddly wistful song, kind of depressing and optimistic at the same time, which is kind of the vibe for the whole album.

Musically, the album has a very stripped down and low-fi feel to it.

It is rare for the background music or vocals on a song to overpower Hiatt’s sound. Usually it’s there to enhance the emotions she brings, as on the track “Everything I Had.”

The song starts with a simple riff, an up-and-down picking scale which is occasionally punctuated by a grungier, heavily distorted stroke every so often.

The whole thing feels like it is building to something heavier, but it’s just building for the chorus.

“I gave you everything/Everything, that I had/I gave you everything/Everything I had/I thought you called cuz you wanted to see me/You just called cuz you thought I was easy.”

I would recommend this album. It is a little raw, a little emotional and personal.

This is a woman going through a painful breakup and using her craft and skills as a songwriter to get through it, and in a way that makes for an enjoyable experience.